Buffy's New Job - Part 5 - Infinity War
by BuffyL
Summary: !SPOILER ALERT! Do not read this if you haven't seen Infinity War yet. This is Part Five of the Buffy's New Job series. This is it. Thanos is here for the Infinity Stones. Buffy and Steve must band together with old and new friends to save the universe.
1. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Buffy stared out at the compound and sighed. It was practically empty. Only a few Slayers and the Secret Avengers stayed there regularly. Most of the Slayers that hadn't signed the Accords were in Wakanda. Okoye had allowed them to train there with the Dora Milaje while Buffy was away.

It had been two years since Buffy and Steve had left Wakanda. Two years since they'd lost a piece of their souls. Wanda, Bucky, Sam, Natasha, Willow, and Angel had set up their base camp at the old Slayer HQ, like they had originally planned to do. Steve and Buffy had disappeared for a few months to try and cope with the loss of their child. Eventually, they had come back to the Secret Avengers, but they weren't the same people they once had been.

A knock on the doorframe made her turn around. It was Angel. "Hey." She said.

"Hey." Angel walked up to her and looked out over the compound. Her office had a great view of the compound with its floor to ceiling windows. She wasn't paying attention to it anymore, though, since she was marveling at the fact that Angel was bathed in sunlight and not burning to a crisp. Willow and Wanda had created a version of the Gem of Amara for Angel. He had been reluctant at first to wear it, but had eventually seen the necessity of it. It was a sight she didn't think she would ever get used to. "You ok?"

Buffy shrugged. "I don't know."

"Steve said you haven't been sleeping much lately."

"So, he sent you up here to talk to me."

"He's worried and you don't talk to him like you used to."

"I don't talk to anyone like I used to."

"You went through a very traumatic experience. It's only natural to pull away some. Can't stay pulled away forever, though."  
"I know that." She was quiet for a long moment and then she let out a heavy sigh. "I don't mean to. I'm honestly trying to get back to normal, but…."

"Buffy, don't try to get back to normal. What you lost…. That's never gonna happen. You've got to find a new normal for yourself. And for Steve." Buffy nodded, turning back to the window. "So, you wanna tell me why you're not sleeping?"

"Something's coming."

"Are you dreaming again?"

"Well, you know how those Slayer dreams get when the end of the world is around the corner."

"Another apocalypse?"

"You can't feel it, Angel?" He shook his head. "Look who's the cryptic one now."

"You've reversed our roles."

She didn't smile or laugh at that. "Whatever it is, it's coming now and I don't know what to do to stop it."  
"Your dreams aren't telling you anything?"

"Nothing solid. Just…. Flashes of bad. And scary. Mostly death."

"Are any of the other girls feeling it?"

"I don't know. I don't think so. None of them has said anything and Okoye hasn't reported anything to me."

"I can talk to the girls that are here." Buffy nodded. He reached out and took her hand. "Buffy, it'll be ok. We've stopped every apocalypse before. We'll stop this one."

"I hope you're right." He squeezed her hand before walking out of the room. She could almost count down the seconds from the time Angel left to when Steve appeared. He hovered at the edge of the door, clearly uncertain whether to come in or not. "I'm not going to bite."

He chuckled. "I know."

"Did Angel relay his message?" Buffy turned around and waited for Steve to walk over to her.

"I'm sorry. I should've come and asked you myself, but you've been so distant lately and…." As soon as he stopped in front of her, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a tight embrace. He winced slightly from her strength, but hugged her back. "Hey…."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For being so distant. I haven't meant to be. I just…. There's so much going on in my head and I don't know how to deal with any of it." He waited patiently for her to continue. In the last two years, his wife had almost lost the quick wit that had been such an endearment to him. He'd watched her drown in her grief and hadn't been able to save her because he'd been drowning in his own grief. "I hate who I've become, but…. I don't know how to deal with what happened to us. Some days I think I'm doing fine, but then the next day or week or month…. I just don't want to even get out of bed. Those days…." She took a deep breath. "Those days, it's like being yanked out of heaven back to this crappy world and waking up in my coffin all over again. I want to blame someone for what happened, but there's no one."

"I know."

"Funny how you could love someone so completely and never have met them at all."

Steve leaned down and kissed her gently, holding her against him tightly. "I've been so worried about you, Buffy. The last few weeks, I wake up in the middle of the night and you're not there. You've been walking around as almost a shell of yourself."

Buffy nodded and wrapped her arms around herself. "It's not just…. What we went through…. That's causing my lack of sleep. There's something's coming."

"How do you know?"

"Slayers…. We get these prophetic dreams sometimes. Especially when there's an apocalypse coming. Angel's going to see if any of the girls have had dreams, too, but for the last month I've been getting them almost every night."

"What are they telling you?"

"I don't know. I've been trying to figure it out. It's been a long time since I've had dreams like this. The last time was when the First was killing off Potentials and I had a front row seat to their murders."

Steve reached out and pulled her to him again. In their years together, he had never felt the need to actually protect Buffy because he trusted her to handle herself and always have his back like she trusted him to do the same. For only the second time since meeting her all those years ago, he felt the absolute and overwhelming need to protect her. She seemed so small and scared and completely unlike herself. And that terrified him. Whatever was coming must be worse than anything they'd ever faced.

Just then, the phone that they had gotten specifically for Tony to call them began to ring. They both looked at Buffy's desk like it had grown five heads. The last time Buffy had talked to Tony had been just before she had lost the baby. She walked over to it and grabbed it.

"Tony?"

"No, uh…. It's, uh…. It's Bruce. Bruce Banner."

"Bruce!? Oh my god!"

"Listen, I wish I had more time to catch up, but…. We've got a major problem."

Buffy looked up at Steve with wide eyes.

* * *

Buffy adjusted her scythe on her back and made sure the vibranium throwing knives were in their holsters. Shuri had given them to her as a gift along with her new vibranium-laced suit after Buffy had managed to destroy her old suit. The not-so-dormant Hellmouth in Cleveland had been opened a few months ago and Faith had called for help. When word had gotten out about Buffy's fugitive status, Faith had taken up residence in Cleveland. She'd decided to guard the place like Buffy had once done for Sunnydale.

Steve had met Spike during that battle and, while the Super Solider didn't like the vampire, he gave him his respect for having Buffy's back when she'd been severely injured. Spike had started hanging out with Faith and the two were apparently having some sort of on/off fling. As for Buffy's injuries, she'd tried to take on one of the large Hellmouth demons on her own. It had pretty much batted her around like a cat toy until backup had saved her.

Natasha walked back to Buffy standing at the back of the plane. "Hey."

Buffy gave her friend and slight smile. "Hey."

"Steve says you're dreaming about the end of the world."

"Honestly, I don't know what it is. Nothing is ever clear, just the feeling of impending doom and frustration because I can't figure the dreams out."

"Do you usually get clear pictures?"

"Not always. Most of the time its cryptic, but I still understand it. Like when I dreamed Angel died on my birthday, there were all these signs in the dream that came true in real life."

"Angel died on your birthday?"  
"Well…. In a way, he did."

"It was _that_ birthday." Buffy nodded. "Is there anything that stands out in these dreams?"

Buffy sighed and shook her head. "It's like watching something on super fast-forward while drunk. I've gotten flashes of the tesseract, maybe…. And Vision. A couple of what I'm guessing are the Infinity Stones. Mostly it's like I'm standing in a dust storm and there are faces there. Some of them are people I care about, I think."

"Anyone in particular?"

"Honestly, Nat, I can't tell. It gives me a headache to even try to focus on any one face. If Thanos is what my dreams are warning me about…."

Natasha reached over and hugged her friend tightly. "We'll stop him. It's what we do." She understood now what Steve was worried about. Buffy was terrified and this was an emotion the Slayer had never shown before.

"I've lost so much…." Buffy whispered. Natasha hugged her tighter.

"Can I get in on that action?" Sam joked, walking up to the two women.

"You couldn't handle us, Wilson." Natasha said, turning to him.

"You're probably right."

"Why aren't you flying the jet?" Buffy asked, looking past to see the controls unmanned and Steve standing not far behind them looking over something on his tablet.

"Wait, this thing doesn't fly itself?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "I thought the autopilot went out on it last month?"

"It did. Bucky took it to Shuri and she fixed it."

"Where was I?"

"With Steve in Wales fighting that group of Polgara demons." Natasha said. "I thought Angel told you." Buffy shook her head. "Maybe it's his old age. He's finally going senile."

"He probably told me, I just…. Forgot."

"It's all good. It's fixed." Sam said. "And we'll be there soon. Don't sweat it. You've had a rough couple of years."

"Vision just turned on his transponder." Steve announced to the little group at the back of the plane. "He and Wanda are near the train station and he's sending us an SOS."

"Warp speed, Mr. Sulu." Buffy said to Sam.

"Sam, drop us off and then land."

"You got it." Sam went back to the controls.

Steve turned to Buffy. "You up for this?"

Buffy clenched and unclenched her fists. "Have I ever let you down?" Steve's face told her she had once. "Ok, minus that one time when I went in all half-cocked and nearly got myself killed." She looked down at her feet. "I wasn't exactly in the right head space."

Steve sighed and reached out to grip her hands. "I know you weren't. You were reckless and it scared the hell out of me. When Spike found you…."  
She squeezed his hands. "I know. I'll never do that to you again."

He leaned down to kiss her, lingering there for longer than just a chaste kiss. While Buffy had been in Shuri's care in Wakanda after that incident, Steve had laid into her about how out of control she'd been during that battle and a lot of the missions they'd gone on before that. It had finally broken them both and they'd talked for the first time in over a year about what had happened with their daughter.

When they broke apart from their kiss, Natasha was opening the back for them to jump out of. The two of them ran out of the back of the jet and leapt out, falling the 100 or so feet to the building below. Each of them landed on their feet and rolled to ease the impact.

Quickly and quietly, they made their way into the train station where Wanda and Vision could be heard fighting off two very large assailants. A train came into the station and blocked their view of the platform where Wanda was gearing up her magicks. Through the cars, Buffy could see one of the attackers looked like a tall, thinnish orc holding a halberd of some sort and the other looked like an Amazon woman had a baby with a blue ram and was holding a cool glowing trident.

The Ram-woman spotted them as the train left the station and threw her trident at them. Steve caught it easily and both of the aliens looked startled. Buffy and Steve moved out of the shadows and towards the tracks. Vision and Wanda both looked incredibly relieved to see them. The married superheroes ran and easily jumped from one platform to the other across the tracks as Sam flew in on his wings, sending the Ram-woman crashing through a deli window. He shot some mini-rockets at the orc and as it was off balance, Natasha slid in on her knees, caught the trident Steve tossed her, and took its knees out from under it as she stabbed it with the trident.

The Ram-woman came back into the fight and took the trident from Natasha. Buffy pulled her scythe off her back and twirled it, appearing between the Ram-woman and Natasha. She blocked the trident with her scythe before it could hit her friend.

The Ram-woman's eyes widened as she looked at Buffy's weapon. "Slayer!" She hissed.

Buffy kicked out and knocked her back. Steve appeared and they took turns fighting the Ram-woman. Natasha joined in and they formed a triangle around the alien. Sam flew in and kicked the Ram-woman back. She landed in a roll and crawled over to join her companion as Sam pulled out his guns. Natasha had out her sting batons and Buffy hefted her scythe.

"Get up." She said to the orc guy.

"I can't." Orc guy replied.

"We don't want to kill you." Natasha said. "But we will."

"You'll never get the chance again." Ram-woman said. A beam of light came in through the shattered glass ceiling and she and the orc guy were beamed up. The trident Steve was holding got yanked out of his hand and he looked up, annoyed that they'd taken it from him.

Buffy looked over at Steve as she put her weapon back in its holster. "Ram-woman was scared of my scythe."

"I'm scared of your scythe." Steve joked as they headed over to the downed Vision and Wanda.

"Can you stand?" Sam asked Vision. He and Wanda got Vision to his feet as Buffy and Steve joined them.

"Thank you, Captain. Mrs. Rogers." Vision said to them.

Steve nodded. "Let's get you on the jet."

They made their way to the parked jet and Sam headed for the controls. Natasha made sure the back closed as they began to ascend. "I thought we had a deal." She said to Wanda. "Stay close, check in frequently, don't take any chances."

"Sorry." Wanda said. "We just wanted time."

Buffy smiled slightly at Wanda. "It's ok. Can't blame you for needing a break."

"I can." Natasha muttered.

"Nat, chill. Or I'm cancelling your weekend getaway with Angel next month." Natasha stuck her tongue out at Buffy and the two shared a smile.

"Where to Cap?" Sam asked.

Steve looked at Buffy as she made her way to the back of the plane to take up her usual seat on the floor. "Home." He finally answered.

Buffy looked up at her husband as he joined her. "It's going to be weird going back after everything. Especially with Tony missing."

"Rhodes knows that we're coming and he seems eager for it."

"Hopefully that means we won't be arrested on sight."

Steve chuckled. "Hopefully."

She pulled the scythe off her back and held it out. "Ram-woman from outer space recognized my weapon and she knew me. How is that possible?"

"Not sure."  
"There's not a lot of information on my scythe out there. I just know that this very old woman that called herself a Guardian said she and a bunch of other Guardians forged this in secrecy half way around the world and then put it in the rock I pulled it out of. I didn't get much more information out of her before Caleb snapped her neck. Halfway around the world from Sunnydale is Wakanda."

Steve ran his fingers along the side of the vicious looking blade. "You think this is vibranium?"

"Maybe. I've never given it to Shuri or T'Challa and asked them, but it makes sense why it's never broken and it reacts to impacts like your old shield did." Buffy sighed and put the scythe back in its harness. "Doesn't explain how Ram-woman knew me and my weapon, though."

"You don't ever give yourself enough credit, Buff. You're a pretty big deal. I'm sure stories about you have gone out past our galaxy."

She took his hand. "I love you, too."

* * *

Buffy and Steve looked out the window as Sam landed the Quinjet outside of Avengers HQ. The place had definitely expanded in the two and a half years since they'd last been there. As they made their way inside, Slayers at the compound stopped and stared at their tiny, blonde, fugitive leader. Steve gripped her hand and she looked up at him gratefully. Behind them, Natasha strode with purpose, never looking around at anyone. Sam and Wanda held Vision up between them behind her.

They found Rhodes in a room with a holographic conference table filled with holographic bureaucrats. One of them being Secretary Ross. "You know they're only criminals because you chose to call them that." Rhodes said.

"My god, Rhodes, your talent for horseshit rivals mine." Ross snapped.

"You know if it wasn't for those Accords, Vision would've been right here."

"I remember your signature on those papers, Colonel."

"That's right. And I'm pretty sure I paid for that."  
"You're having second thoughts?"

"Not anymore." Rhodes looked over at the group making their way up the hallway towards them.

Buffy and Steve came to a stop in front of Rhodes and hologram Ross. "Mr. Secretary." Steve said politely. Buffy just sneered at him.

Ross moved towards them. "You've got some nerve, I'll give you that."

"You could use some of that right now." Natasha countered.

"The world's on fire and you think all's forgiven?"

"We're not looking for forgiveness." Buffy growled. "And we're way past asking permission. If you had any common sense, you'd be asking Obi Wan for help right now."

Steve moved in front of Buffy, irrationally protecting hologram Ross from her. "Earth just lost your best defender, so we're here to fight. If you want to stand in our way, we'll fight you, too."

Ross turned to Rhodes. "Arrest them."

"All over it." Rhodes said. He raised his hand and disconnected the hologram call. The conference table and its occupants disappeared from the room. "That's a court martial. It's great to see you, Cap."

"You too, Rhodey." Steve shook Rhodes hand.

Rhodes turned to Buffy. "Bring it in here, Mrs. Rogers." He hugged Buffy tightly.

"You would think after two years of hearing that, I would be used to it." Buffy said.

"Listen, I heard about…."

"Please don't bring that up."

"I'm sorry."  
"It's ok. I just…. Need a clear head right now and that's a world of murk."

Rhodes nodded and hugged Natasha. He took a moment to take everyone in. "You guys really look like crap. Must've been a rough couple of years."

"Yeah, well, the hotels weren't exactly five star." Sam retorted.

"I think you look great!" Bruce said, walking into the room. They all turned to look at him. "Yeah, I'm back."

Buffy's eyes widened when she saw her sister standing beside Bruce. "Dawn?"

"Hey, sis." Dawn said, smiling. The two sisters rushed to each other and hugged tightly for a long moment.

"What are you doing here?"

"Tony hired me to be the head cheese of the medical staff."

"She's pretty amazing at it." Rhodes said.

"Thanks." Dawn walked over to Steve. "So, you're my brother-in-law now, huh?"

"Guess so." Steve said. He smiled at Dawn and hugged her tightly.

"You guys got married?" Bruce asked, pointing between Buffy and Steve.

Steve nodded with a smile at his wife. "Two years ago."

"Congratulations. Sorry I missed the wedding."

"A lot of people missed it." Dawn said pointedly to her sister.

"So, let's talk end of the world." Buffy said, quickly changing the subject. She looked up at Bruce. "Tell me about Thanos."

* * *

"So, we've gotta assume they're coming back." Rhodes said, pacing the large office just off Tony's lab. They had explained the battles in New York and in Scotland against the aliens that did Thanos' bidding. Buffy, who had stopped listening during the recount of Scotland's battle, was standing by Tony's desk and staring at the sonogram picture that was in a small frame there.

"And they can clearly find us." Wanda added.

"We need all hands on deck." Bruce said. "Where's Clint?"

"After the whole Accords situation, he and Scott took a deal." Natasha said. "It was too tough on their families. They're on house arrest."

"Who's Scott?"

"Antman." Steve said, walking over to see what Buffy was staring so hard at. He felt the wind get knocked out of him for a moment when his eyes landed on the picture. His hand reached out and gripped his wife's tightly. She moved a little closer to him and looked away from the last picture that had been taken of their daughter.

"There's an Antman and a Spiderman?" Rhodes nodded at Bruce. "All right, look, Thanos has the biggest army in the universe and he is not gonna stop till he gets…. Vision's stone."

"Then we have to protect it." Natasha said.

"No, we have to destroy it." Vision said, bringing Buffy and Steve's attention back to the conversation. "I've been giving a good deal of thought to this entity in my head. About its nature. But also its composition." He turned and walked slowly towards Wanda. "I think if it were exposed to a sufficiently powerful energy source, something very similar to its own signature perhaps, its molecular integrity could fail."

"Yeah, and you with it." Wanda said. "I'm not having this conversation."

"Eliminating the stone is the only way to be certain in this argument."

"It's too high a price."

"Only you have the power to pay it." Wanda yanked away from Vision, turning away from him. "Thanos threatens half the universe. One life cannot stand in the way of defeating him."

"But it should." Steve said. "We don't trade lives, Vision."

"Captain, 70 years ago you laid down your life to save how many millions of people. Tell me, why is this any different?"

"It's not." Buffy said quietly.

Vision looked at her. "Yes, you understand. You traded Angel's life to save the world once. And you traded your own, as well. Twice, yes?"

"Well, that's the legend, isn't it? One girl stands against the forces of darkness until it kills her? Then the next one's called. I was just…. Fulfilling my destiny."

"It was a little more complicated than that." Dawn said.

"Not really. The prophecy said I would die fighting the Master and I did. When Angelus opened Acathla, only Angel's blood could close the portal to hell. So, I killed him. I did my job to save the world despite how much it killed me to do it. Then on that tower with you…."

"You could've let me jump."

"That wasn't an option."

"It was an option. I'm the ball of energy that opened that world-ending portal and it was what I wanted to do, but you were too damn stubborn with your martyr complex to even contemplate any other options." Dawn looked at Bruce, the lightbulb clearly going off in her head. "Tony and I have had conversations about how Vision was made. Doesn't he have options?"  
"Yes! He does!" Bruce said. He turned to Vision. "Your mind is made up of a complex construct of overlays. Jarvis, Ultron, Tony, me, the stone…. All of them mixed together. All of them learning from one another."

"You're saying Vision isn't just the stone?" Wanda asked.

"I'm saying that, if we take out the stone, there's still a whole lot of Vision left. Perhaps the best parts."

"Can we do that?" Natasha asked.

"Not me. Not here."

"Well, you better find someone and somewhere fast. Ross isn't going to just let you guys have your old rooms back." Rhodes said.

Buffy looked over at Steve and knew he was thinking the same thing. "We know someone and somewhere." She announced to the room.


	2. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Dawn and Buffy stood at the back of the quinjet with Steve as they flew to Wakanda. Dawn had been grilling them on where they'd been and what they'd been doing for the last two years. "T'Challa has been helping you guys?" Dawn asked incredulously, examining Buffy's vibranium suit.

"Yeah." Buffy said.

"He signed the Accords. He could get into a lot of trouble."

"Yeah, well, seems pretty moot now that the end of the world is here."

Dawn shrugged. "The end of the world is always here."

"You've gotten way too blasé about the world ending."

"Well, when your sister has spent most of her natural life ending one apocalypse after another, it kinda _does_ become blasé." Dawn looked down at her feet and shifted uneasily.

Buffy sighed. "What?"

"Nothing."

The blonde Slayer rolled her eyes at her younger sister. "You're not putting on this show for nothing. Talk."

"It's not a show. I just…." Dawn looked up at Buffy and Steve with wide eyes. "I'm really sorry you guys lost the baby like that. I know you don't want to talk about it, but she was my family, too. She was my niece. I was devastated when I heard. I should've been there for you guys. And I'm really angry at you both for not telling me about it yourselves. That's not something you should hear through the grapevine. That's something you tell your family yourselves. In person. And not two years after the fact!"

"Dawn…." Steve started, a little taken aback at Dawn's outburst.

"She's right." Buffy said, looking up at her husband. "We should've told her ourselves. I'm sorry we didn't. We just…."

"We didn't know how to process everything." Steve finished.

"We still don't."

"And we didn't want to add being arrested on top of all of that."

"So, we disappeared for a few months and we dealt with it the best we could and when we came back, we didn't talk about it."

"You haven't talked about it for two years?" Dawn asked.

"A year and a half. And only once." Steve said.

"And that once was enough." Buffy added.

"You need to talk about it!" Dawn insisted. "You can't bottle that up."

"We have talked about it. To each other. We don't need to talk anymore about it. Which means we can stop talking about it now."

"But…. You guys could try again." Dawn said in a small voice. "I mean…. Once this thing is over, you guys could…."

"I don't want to put Buffy through that again." Steve said firmly.

"But there's lots of medical advances now and…."

"We had the best medical care anyone could dream of and it didn't help." Buffy snapped. "We're fine with it just being us."

"But…."

"Dawn, please. No more. When this is over, if we survive, we'll still be who we are. Super Solider and Slayer. Criminals to the rest of the world. We will disappear back into the shadows and keep the world as safe as possible from there."

"I miss you, Buffy. Both of you."

"We miss you, too."

"We drew a line in the sand and these are the consequences we have to bear." Steve said. "I'm sorry you have to pay them, too."

"I get it." Dawn sighed. "Being the sister of the Slayer has never been easy and I guess it'll never get easier."

Buffy folded her sister into a tight embrace. "I'm sorry, Dawn."

"I'm sorry, too. I've been dying to talk to you guys about it because it hurt me to lose her, too." Buffy and Steve just nodded. "Did you guys name her?"

Buffy looked up at Steve and he took her hand. "Adaline." Steve said quietly, kissing Buffy's knuckles. "We named her Adaline Grace Rogers."

"That's really pretty."

"How's, uh…. Eric?" Steve asked, remembering the boyfriend Dawn had had when everything with the Accords had happened. The change of subject was a needed relief from the last topic.

"Oh, I don't know." Dawn said, following Steve towards the front of the jet with Buffy beside her. "We broke up about a year ago."

"What happened?"

"I took the job at Avengers HQ and he didn't want to leave Chicago."

"Or Rebecca." Rhodes added.

Steve and Buffy both swiveled around to stare at Dawn with wide, shocked eyes as she glared at Rhodes. "I wasn't planning on telling them that."

"He's a dead man." Buffy said.

Steve nodded his agreement before adding, "Say the word and it looks like a happy accident."

Dawn laughed. "It's ok. Really, I don't blame him. I wasn't exactly the best girlfriend. After everything with the Accords and then when you guys…. Disappeared, I threw myself into my work. I took extra shifts, worked doubles and triples when I could…. I was never home."

"That doesn't give him permission to find companionship somewhere else while he's in a relationship with you." Steve said.

"No, you're right. It doesn't. But I've accepted my part that I played in everything and I've moved on. I'm happy working with Rhodes and Tony and everyone."

"Still…." Buffy turned to Rhodes. "What's his address? I'm paying him a visit if we survive this."

"If Rhodes won't get it for you, I'll dig him up." Natasha answered. "I distinctly remember him promising me he would never to do anything to hurt you, Dawn."

"Not to break up this moment of first degree homicide, but are you sure about these coordinates, Cap?" Sam asked.

"Drop to twenty-six hundred, heading zero, three, zero." Steve confirmed.

"I hope you're right about this or we're going to land a lot faster than you want to."

Buffy joined Steve behind Sam and looked out at the fast-approaching mountainside. "I love this part." She said. The jet headed directly into the mountain and the scenery changed suddenly as they flew through the barrier. The beautiful city of Wakanda spread out before them, glistening in the sunlight.

"Wow." Dawn whispered. "This place is amazing."

"You have no idea."

The jet landed and Buffy and Steve were the first ones out. Natasha and Dawn were right behind them with Bruce and Rhodes behind them. Sam and Wanda led Vision out last. Okoye and Buffy grinned at each other. The blonde stopped in front of Okoye and the two women embraced tightly.

"It is so good to see you, my friend!" Okoye said. "You look well."

"Seems like I'm always thanking you for something." Steve said to T'Challa, shaking his hand.

Behind Steve, Bruce took a bow and Rhodes nudged him. "What are you doing?"

T'Challa waved his hands at Bruce. "We don't do that here." He turned to Buffy and pulled her into a hug. "How are you, Buffy?"

"Not bad, for the end of the world." Buffy retorted. "Where's Shuri?"

"In her lab, of course. She's ready for you."

"Great. She'll get to meet my little sister."

T'Challa looked at Dawn for confirmation and Buffy nodded. He took her hand warmly in his. "Miss Summers, I have heard a lot about you."

Dawn giggled and blushed. "Oh…. Uh, really?"

Buffy rolled her eyes as T'Challa said, "It is good to finally meet you. I'm sure you and my sister will have plenty to talk about."

"I doubt either of us will appreciate our younger siblings comparing notes on us." Buffy said to T'Challa.

He laughed as they headed for Shuri's lab. "I imagine not. Shuri has recordings." After another moment of levity, both of them sobered. "So, how big of an assault should we expect?"

"Sir, sir," Bruce said, pushing to the front. "I think you should expect quite a big assault."

"How're we looking?" Buffy asked.

"We will have my King's Guard, the Boarder Tribe, the Dora Milaje, and your Slayers."

"What about…."

"A semi-stable hundred-year-old man, a witch, and…." Bucky asked, walking up to the group with Angel, Willow, Xander, and Giles.

"A couple of strays." Willow finished.

"Hey, Buff!" Xander said, wrapping his friend in a bear hug.

"Xander!" Buffy cried, hugging him tightly back. "Oh my god!" She turned and hugged her Watcher. "Giles!"

"You're looking well." Giles said, smiling at her.

"You're a terrible liar."

"What are you guys doing here?" Steve asked, hugging Xander and Giles in turn.

"Willow sent out the Bat Signal." Xander said. "End of the world, where else would we be?"

"When T'Challa sent his jets to come get us," Willow said. "I had them make a couple of extra stops."

"The rest of the Slayers from the compound will be joining us soon." Rhodes announced.

"Good." Buffy said. "We need all the help we can get." She looked at Bucky and Dawn and realized they were eyeing each other. "Nuh uh. No. Stop that."

"What?" Bucky asked innocently.

"That's my little sister. I'll wipe the floor with you, Barnes."

"I didn't know!" Steve shot his best friend a dubious look. "I didn't."

"Cause they don't look anything alike at all." Steve retorted sarcastically.

"Dawn, Bucky. Bucky, Dawn." Buffy said. "No flirting."

"I didn't mean to." Bucky defended as he watched them head for Shuri's lab. Buffy gave him a skeptical look as she dragged Dawn along.

" _That_ was Bucky?" Dawn asked, looking back with a grin as the doors closed on the group not going to the lab.

As soon as they walked into the lab, Shuri let out a loud, happy noise and hugged Buffy tightly. "You don't come to visit often enough." Shuri scolded.

"Well, you're a little busy most days and we're not trying to get you guys in trouble." Before Shuri could argue, Buffy turned to Dawn. "Dawn, this is Shuri, Princess of Wakanda and all around smarty pants badass. Shuri, this is my sister Dawn."

"Come here!" Shuri pulled Dawn to her in a tight hug. "I've heard so much about you!"

"You seem to be very popular here." Dawn said to Buffy.

Buffy shrugged. "I spent two months here while I was…." She trailed off and even Shuri's light dimmed some.

The young princess had blamed herself for the loss of the baby. She had done everything she could possibly think to do to save Buffy's and Steve's daughter, but nothing had worked. She had a massive array of technology beyond anyone's imagination and she hadn't been able to save an innocent life that meant everything to her friends.

Buffy reached out and hugged Shuri with one arm. "Hey, no one blames you. It wasn't your fault. It was no one's fault."

Shuri nodded and gave Buffy a tight smile. She looked at the vibranium suit Buffy was wearing. It looked almost exactly like her old one, but with all the cool tech like T'Challa's. It didn't activate from a necklace, though. Buffy had insisted that she didn't need anything that exciting. "Is the suit working out for you?"

"It's great."

"My brother is a little jealous that I gave you a suit like his."

"I doubt mine would look good on him."

"Definitely not. He doesn't have the hips for it." Shuri and Buffy laughed. "So, where's my patient?" Half an hour later, Vision was on her table and she was finishing her scan of him with her Kimoyo beads. Bruce's eyes bugged out of his head when he saw the hologram display of the mind stone in her hand. "The structure is polymorphic."  
"Right." Bruce said. "We had to attach each neuron non-sequentially."

"Why didn't you just reprogram the synopsizes to work connectively?"

"Because…. .We…. Didn't think of it."

"I'm sure you did your best."

"All around smarty pants badass is right." Dawn murmured to Buffy.

"Can you do it?" Wanda asked.

"Yes. But there are more than two trillion neurons here." Shuri said. "One misalignment could cause a cascade of circuit failures. It will take time, brother."

"How long?" Steve asked.

"As long as you can give me."

Okoye's Kimoyo beads sent out a warning alarm and she lifted her arm. A hologram of the Earth appeared in her palm with red lights flashing above Wakanda. "Something's entered the atmosphere."

"Are the rest of my Slayers here?" Buffy asked.

"They arrived ten minutes ago and are joining the ones at the training center." Ayo said.

"Good."

"Hey Cap, we've got a situation here." Sam announced in their earpieces. He and Bucky were down with Xander and Rhodes by the quinjet.  
"God, I love this place." Bucky said, watching as the barrier above the city kept the large metal object that had hurtled from space from destroying anything but itself.

"Don't start celebrating yet." Rhodes said. "We've got more incoming outside the dome."

The ground began to shake as one after one, large metal pyramid shaped ships crashed into the Earth outside of the Wakandan protective dome. Everyone turned to the windows and watched for a moment. Vision got off the table and leaned heavily against it. "It's too late. We need to destroy the stone."

"Vision, get your ass back on the table." Natasha said.

"We will hold them off." T'Challa said.

"Ayo, get the Slayers ready to follow their leader." Okoye ordered her second with a nod at Buffy.

"Wanda, as soon as that stone is out of his head, blow it to hell." Steve said.

"I will." Wanda promised.

"Evacuate the city." T'Challa ordered. "Engage all defenses." He pointed at Steve. "And get this man a shield." Steve looked surprised, but he nodded gratefully at the king.

* * *

Buffy and Steve rode with a carrier of Slayers, Xander, and Dawn. There were two other carriers with more Slayers on them. Dawn had insisted on coming to be the doctor on site. Willow had promised to put a protection spell on her to keep her safe. Steve examined his new vibranium arm shields Shuri had given him. They were pretty badass and Buffy was a little jealous, but she had the badass suit and couldn't really complain. She did miss his old shield, though.

"How are we looking, Bruce?" Natasha said in their earpieces. She was on a ship with some of the Dora Milaje.

Bruce came flying by them in the Hulkbuster armor. "Yeah, I think I'm getting the hang of it." He started whooping with excitement. "This is amazing! It's like being the Hulk without actually…." Suddenly the Hulkbuster armor tripped over a rock and faceplanted. "I'm ok! I'm ok."

"I've got two heat signatures breaking through the tree line." Rhodes announced as he and Sam flew by overhead.

The carriers turned into a stop and everyone disembarked. Buffy and Steve led her Slayers, Bucky, Xander, Willow, and Dawn into formation between the King's Guard and the Dora Milaje. M'Baku was leading a war cry with his mountain tribe. T'Challa walked over to him and shook his hand. "Thank you for standing with us."

"Look, it's my friend." Buffy said, pointing at the Ram-woman walking up with a giant hunk of rocks. "I'm going to go say hi." Steve and T'Challa joined her as she made her way towards the barrier. Ram-woman was running her space sword along the barrier, testing its strength. "Where's your other friend?"

"He will pay for his life with yours." Ram-woman said.

The petite blonde just snorted. "Please, like I haven't heard that before."

"Thanos will have that stone."

"That's not gonna happen." Steve said.

"You are in Wakanda now." T'Challa announced. "Thanos will have nothing but dust and blood."

"We have blood to spare." Ram-woman said. She raised her sword and the ships behind her began to open.

"Ok, don't say we didn't warn you." Buffy said. "Have a nice funeral." She, Steve, and T'Challa turned and headed back to join their armies.

"Did they surrender?" Bucky asked.

"Not exactly." Steve said.

They watched as multi-armed aliens with insane looking teeth disembarked and crawled over each other. T'Challa started his own war chant. Willow began to glow with power. Xander stood beside her with his own machine gun and battle axe at the ready. Angel stood with Natasha holding two swords. Giles had stayed with Shuri and Wanda to assist where he could. Buffy stood between Steve and Bucky.

Across the field, Ram-woman gave the signal and the alien horde attacked the barrier. Some of them managed to get limbs, heads, or even torsos through only to have them severed as the barrier restored itself. They crawled over each other in a desperate frenzy to make it through the barrier.

"What the hell?" Bucky asked.

"Looks like you pissed her off." Natasha said to Buffy. "What did you say to her."

"I told her to have a nice funeral." Buffy said with a shrug.

"They're killing themselves." Okoye said in horror.

The Boarder Tribe threw their energy shields up and T'Challa gave the order to fire. Bucky and Xander both began firing their machine guns at the horde. Bruce used the Hulkbuster armor's energy blasts to shoot at the aliens. Sam and Rhodes flew overhead and shot their weapons. Rhodes let loose a stream of missiles along the barrier that destroyed the fresh throng coming in.

"Hey Buff! Cap!" Xander called, watching the aliens move off around the barrier. "If these things circle the perimeter and get in behind us, there's nothing between them and Vision."

"Then we better keep them in front of us." Steve said.

"How do we do that?" Okoye asked.

"We open the barrier." T'Challa said. He held his finger up to his earpiece. "On my signal, open northwest section seventeen. On my signal."

"This will be the end of Wakanda." M'Baku said.

"Then it will be the noblest ending in history." Okoye responded.

Buffy pulled the scythe off her back and turned to address her army. "Slayers!" She bellowed. " _This_ is what we were built for. _This_ is our calling. We are Slayers! We stand against the forces of darkness!" She pointed the blade of her scythe at the oncoming horde. "It doesn't get much darker than this. We will not let this purple bastard and his horde of freaks get through us. This is _our_ world! Send them packing!" Buffy turned and began running.

The Slayers joined her a second later. The other armies charged forward and T'Challa gave the signal. The barrier opened and the alien horde came scrambling through. Steve, Buffy, and T'Challa were racing at the head of the pack. They jumped over the stream into the oncoming aliens. The Slayers were right behind them and Buffy heard the clash of bodies. Kennedy could be seen with Rona and Vi leading a small group of Slayers. The girls had split off into little teams and were taking on the aliens around them.

Buffy and Steve moved in a practiced, back-to-back dance of death. The aliens around them fell quickly under their brutal hits. T'Challa was close by keeping the gnashing teeth away from him. He and Buffy caught each other's eyes and noticed their suits were glowing with the kinetic energy from the hits they'd taken. Together they punched out and hit two of the aliens, releasing the energy in a massive shockwave that sent the aliens back and gave them a small breather.

Buffy noticed Ram-woman making her way through the combatants with the giant hunk of rocks. She started to go towards her, but noticed Steve was being buried by at least five aliens. Ignoring Ram-woman, Buffy ran over to her husband and began slicing and dicing her way to him. Suddenly, a familiar shaft of rainbow light hit the ground and Thor appeared with a raccoon holding a gun and what looked like a small tree. Thor was crackling with lightening and carrying a very large axe.

"Holy crap that's awesome!" Xander bellowed from beside Bucky.

"You guys are so screwed now!" Bruce yelled from his Hulkbuster armor.

"Bring me Thanos!" Thor cried as he moved into the fray with the raccoon and the tree. He jumped and hit the ground with the axe, sending a shockwave that destroyed any alien within twenty feet of him.

"Has he always been able to do that?" Buffy asked.

"I have no idea." Steve said. "I'm just happy he's alive." They ran back into the mix, taking out the army of aliens one space dog at a time.

"These things are like hell hounds from space!" Buffy yelled, pulling her scythe back out from the body of one.

"You're not entirely wrong." Thor said behind her.

"Took you long enough to get here." Buffy said, turning around.

"New haircut?" Steve asked.

"I noticed you copied my beard." Thor said to him.

"He's sexy with it right?" Buffy asked.

"I would have to agree." Thor said, embracing Buffy tightly with one arm and lifting her off the ground. "It is very good to see you, Buffy." The tree shot out an arm and impaled a bunch of the aliens at once. "Oh, by the way. This is a friend of mine, Tree."

"I am Groot!" The tree yelled.

"I am Steve Rogers." Steve said, gesturing at himself.

Thor noticed the ring on Buffy's left hand and the glimmer of Steve's through a hole in his glove. "You got married!"

"A little over two years ago." Buffy confirmed.

"Congratulations! I'm very sorry I wasn't here for the wedding."

Buffy and Steve shrugged. "It was pretty small." They said in unison. Suddenly the ground began to tremble and they looked up to see the landscape outside of the dome surge up like a wave. Whatever it was rolled under the dome and then popped out of the ground. They were massive wheels that looked like giant saw blades.

Steve spotted Dawn helping a downed soldier and ignoring the massive wheel headed for them. "Dawn!" He yelled. Buffy turned and her eyes widened as she began running. Okoye and Natasha were making their way towards her as well. Wanda suddenly appeared and magically stopped the wheels from hitting anyone. She looked behind her at the pack of aliens headed her way and threw the wheels at them, killing them all instantly.

"Why was she up there all this time?" Okoye asked.

"How is it coming up there?" Willow asked, walking over to join Wanda. As Steve and Buffy began to heard Dawn away from the fray.

"We need help!" Giles yelled over the earpieces. "We're being attacked!"

"Giles!" Buffy yelled, looking over at the tower where Shuri's lab was. She saw two figures tumble out of the window and for a moment was terrified that one of them was her Watcher.

"Guys, we've got a Vision situation." Sam said over their earpieces just before he was tackled out of the air.  
"Somebody get to Vision!" Steve yelled into his com piece.

"I got him!" Rhodes said, flying over them.

"On my way!" Wanda called.

"Xander, take Dawn back to the palace!" Buffy said, finding her friend with Bucky.

"No!" Dawn protested. "I'm needed here. There are people dying."

"You're not going to be one of them."

"I'm not a child anymore, Buffy. I can handle myself!"

"This isn't like anything we've ever faced. I need you safe. I cannot lose you, too, ok?"

"Buffy…."

"Time to go, doll." Bucky said, tossing Dawn over his shoulder suddenly and running off with her. Buffy could hear her protests over the noise around her.

"Guys, Vision needs backup now!" Bruce yelled in her ear.

Buffy realized she was close to the tree line and ran for all she was worth. She found the orc guy stabbing Vision through with his halberd-like weapon. Moving swiftly, she tackled the orc away from Vision. She heard Steve yelling her name as she and the orc began a dangerous ballet with their weapons.

"I knew all those quarterstaff lessons would come in handy one day." Buffy said, expertly blocking and parrying the orc's moves. "Didn't think it would be against an orc from outer space." Finally besting the orc, she knocked its halberd away and sliced down the front of its body with her scythe, leaving a gaping wound. "No more hobbit hunting for you. Time to go back to Mordor." She decapitated the orc and turned to find Steve and Xander helping Vision to sit up against a log.

"Nice _Lord of the Rings_ reference, Buff." Xander cheered.

"There was a marathon on a couple of weeks ago." Steve said. "We watched the whole thing. A little long-winded, but I liked it."

"Next time on The Secret Lives of Superheroes: Captain America and the Slayer Extraordinaire binge watch TV!"

Explosions coming from the sky made them look up. Thor was using his giant axe and lightening to destroy the spaceships as they tried to fly away. Wanda appeared and landed near them. She rushed over to Vision.

"Are you ok?" She asked. Suddenly the mind stone began to glow and Vision cringed in pain. "What? What is it?"

"He's here." Vision said, looking around in terror.

A feeling of pure dread came over Buffy as a calm wind started to blow around them. It was the same feeling she had gotten in her dreams. Thanos was coming. "Steve…." She started, reaching her hand out.

He was there, taking it and pulling her into his side. "Everyone on mine and Buffy's position." Steve said into his coms piece. "We have incoming." Buffy shivered and he looked down at her worriedly.

"What the…." Natasha asked as she, Angel, and Sam walked up.

Willow, Okoye, and T'Challa appeared next. Bruce in his Hulkbuster armor stomped in and they all stood in the clearing, waiting. A swirling vortex appeared behind Bruce and they watched as a very large, purple alien that could only be Thanos walked out of it. He looked around at the gathered heroes.

"Cap, that's him." Bruce said.

Buffy and Steve exchanged looks. He watched as she buried her fear and her face became a hardened mask. "Eyes up." Steve said. "Stay sharp." They moved towards Thanos as Bruce attacked.

Thanos held the gauntlet up and Bruce went right through him, falling into the rocks where they solidified around him and pinned him there. Buffy and Steve were thrown back by a wave of purple energy, landing painfully in heaps about twenty feet away from each other. Buffy's cheek hit a rock and she yelped as the skin tore over her cheekbone and blood began to flow down the side of her face. T'Challa jumped at Thanos, but the alien just grabbed him out of the air and punched him to the ground. Sam flew in, shooting his guns, but the shockwave from T'Challa's suit knocked him out of the air.

Buffy clapped a hand to the side of her face and looked around. Steve was crawling over to her and she wiped at the blood with the back of her hand. "Let me see." He said.

"Don't worry about me." Buffy said. "Keep Thanos away from Wanda and Vision."

Steve looked over to see Wanda destroying the mind stone. He shook his head and turned back to her, inspecting the nasty looking cut on her cheek. "It's you and me, Buff. We take this bastard out together." He gripped her hand and helped her to stand.

Rhodes flew in, but Thanos used the gauntlet's power to squeeze him like a Coke can. Bucky came running in with Xander. They were both shooting their guns at Thanos, but he shot out the same purple energy he shot at Buffy and Steve. Xander and Bucky went flying back. Okoye threw her spear, but Thanos used the purple energy on her. Natasha and Angel went to attack, but Thanos pinned them under rocks and dirt.

Willow appeared in front of Thanos crackling with magic. Her eyes and hair were turning black and Kennedy screamed at her to stop as she appeared in the clearing with Karidad and Rona. "Willow!" Buffy yelled. Her best friend had refused to tap into the dark magicks for fear of them taking her over again. She couldn't let Willow go back to the dark side.

Xander got painfully to his feet. "Yellow crayon! Yellow crayon!"

Black fire shot out from Willow's hand towards Thanos and he held up the gauntlet. The flames engulfed his arm, but then dissipated. He threw them back at her, but she threw up a magickal shield. The shield absorbed the black fire before the witch pushed her hands forward. The shield flew outwards and hit Thanos, knocking him back a few feet. While he was momentarily stunned by the show of otherworldly power, Buffy and Steve slid in and began punching and kicking anywhere they could reach as Xander tackled Willow to the ground.

Buffy pulled her scythe off her back and swung it at Thanos. He reached out and caught it, growling as the blades in the middle of the shaft bit into his palm. He lifted her up as she held onto the scythe tightly, one of her hands pinned by his grip. "You must be the Slayer I've heard about that guards this world. It is an honor to meet you."

"Can't say the same." Buffy grunted trying to pull the scythe out of his grip.

Thanos just lifted it higher to get a better look at her. "Funny, I thought you would be bigger."

Steve yelled her name and Thanos shot his gauntleted fist at him, but he caught the gauntlet and held it tightly as he tried to rip it off. Thanos looked over curiously at Steve, surprised that Steve was able to hold his fist despite the greater strength he possessed. Buffy used her scythe as a bar to pull herself up and she kicked Thanos hard in the ribs with both feet. He actually winced, growling in pain, when her feet made contact and he threw her behind him like he was discarding an old ragdoll. Still clinging to her scythe, she hit the rocks beside Bruce and the world went black.

Steve screamed her name just before Thanos brought his fist down on his head. He fell to the ground, unconscious. Kennedy and Rona ran at Thanos, screaming at the top of their lungs. Thanos sent them flying in different directions where they landed in unconscious heaps. Karidad charged Thanos, but he caught her up by her neck and easily snapped it before tossing her body away.

When Buffy came around finally, everything hurt. She lifted her head and groaned at the pain it caused her. In front of her, she saw Thor standing in front of a downed Thanos. His giant axe was shoved through Thanos' chest. "You should've gone for the head." Thanos said, lifting the gauntlet and snapping his fingers. Thor and Buffy both screamed, but a large energy blast flew out from the gauntlet. When Buffy lifted her head again, the gauntlet was smoking and destroyed.

"What did you do?" Thor demanded. "What'd you do!?"

A portal opened behind Thanos and he flew backwards through it. Thor's axe fell to the ground. Hands grabbed Buffy and she jumped, scrambling away before she realized who it was. "Hey, it's me." Steve said, pulling her to him. He winced when she wrapped her arms around him, but he ignored the pain and held her tightly. Her panic level was rising because the end of the world had just happened. She knew in her gut that's what had just happened. Steve looked over at Thor, still holding Buffy tightly. "Where'd he go? Thor, where'd he go?"

"Steve." Bucky said, walking towards them. Buffy and Steve turned to see Bucky turning to ashes before their eyes. He collapsed to the ground and exploded in dust. Steve let go of Buffy and walked over to touch the ground where Bucky's body should've been.

"Oh god…." Xander said.

"Xander!" Willow cried. Buffy looked over to see Willow's hands go through Xander's arm as he turned to dust. Rona and Kennedy, both still unconscious on the ground, began to disintegrate into dust. They could hear the cries of panicked people coming from the battlefield. Wanda turned to dust as she knelt over Vision's body. Buffy heard Rhodes nearby calling for Sam. She looked down at her hands, waiting for herself to turn to dust as well, but she stayed solid.

"Buffy!" Dawn yelled. She had charged back into the fray to help after Bucky had left her by the parked carriers. Now she was running into the clearing. Just as she reached Buffy and fell into her sister's arms, Dawn turned to dust.

The Slayer began to shake as she stared at the ashes in her hands that had once been her sister. "Dawn…." Buffy whimpered. Her knees buckled and she dropped to the ground, gripping the ashes tightly as they dissolved into nothing.

Steve was suddenly there holding her and they clung desperately to each other. Natasha and Angel came running over, looking just as scared and shocked as Steve and Buffy did. Bruce, still in the Hulkbuster armor, had managed to escape his rocky prison. He walked up beside Rhodes, both of them looking confused and scared.

"What is this?" Rhodes asked. "What the hell is happening?"

Steve looked around over Buffy's head as he realized they were all that was left of the group in the clearing. Natasha, Angel, Willow, Rhodes, Okoye, Thor, the raccoon, Bruce, himself, and Buffy. "Oh god…."


End file.
